My Serbian co-worker passed. His wife is disabled .I need advice .

BostonPeter Member

Member since 04 April 2025

BostonPeterMember04 April 2025 12:12:34

Hi Everyone,

I apologize if this if this is not the right place to post this.

I am a programmer in the US, that had a Serbian co-worker,located in Serbia. He passed away from cancer last month. His wife is on disability and she is living alone and having trouble paying her bills. She lives in a rural area, in Northern Serbia.

From what I have come to understand:

As a result of the war , the Serbian economy is weak.

Healthcare is minimal.

She is 63 and gets a disability payment but it is not enough to make ends meet.

Because many people have left Serbian, there are empty houses in the rural areas and so it is not easy to get income from rent out a room.

I think she could use help from a social worker. How to you get help from a social worker in Serbia?

In Serbia, can you hire 14 or 15 years old to come by and do house chores , like mow the lawn? How much would that cost in USD/hour?

Thank you for your time.--Peter

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flighter Active member

Member since 15 April 2009

flighterActive member08 April 2026 11:58:27

If his widow speaks English (or if you speak Serbian, of course), probably the best way would be to help her financially. House help (cleaners, etc) are paid usually $3 to $8 per hour, probably less in rural areas. Utilities can often be paid online (electricity, water, I doubt she uses anything else in the rural area, such would be garbage disposal and such). Telecom services can often be paid online as well. As you are based in the USA, you may have to inform your bank in advance that you will be paying certain services in SERBIA. I am suggesting financial help as opposed to directly hiring people to help her because she may feel safer that way. Relying on social services is not a good idea, these are useless generally.

Another issue she WILL be facing is relatively low quality of healthcare services. There are long waiting lists (imagine cancer patient having to wait for a CT scan for months, it can be a death sentence). Depending on if she has descendants or not (relevant for the inheritance), she may also sign a lifetime support contract with someone who would look after her and support her, in exchange for inheriting her property after she passes away. But it really depends on the local social services office too. So it boils down to you handling one or more of the following:

FInancial support (so she can use the money for what her top priority is at that moment)
Paying one or more bills online
Ordering groceries (delivery may or may not be available in her area
Paying for private healthcare services
Organising a lawyer to handle that lifetime support contract.
Organising a lawyer to handle for her "3rd party support" (in Serbian "Naknada za negu drugog lica" (approx. $380 per month), if she is eligible, which is handled by local health and pension insurance institution.

In any case, I can assist with directions and correspondence, but I would NOT want to be involved in any financial transactions. If you wish to have a call and help the lady, let me know your WhatsApp or Viber contact, or let's have some other type of call...